Nowadays, the world becomes more globalization. This scenario can be found not only in the areas of economy and technology; but also in the fields of socioculture and political forces. When people around the world become more unified into a single society gradually, is that mean individual will also simplify its personality and lose their own identity gradually? Will the goodness of a country/society being dumped and replaced by another one? Will people lose their unique identity in this global village? It is hard to tell since we are only in the middle of stage. However, we can investigate in a similar scenario to see whether people are losing their own identity. If a Chinese, who has a traditional firm and solid thought, is being placed in a Western country such as Canada, how can they define their own identity? Will he/she consider himself/herself as Chinese-Canadian? Or he/she will still insist that he/she is Chinese no matter where he/she is? In order to know more about the internal conflict of a Chinese-Canadian, this individual research will give a brief backgrounds of these two countries; how these two different philosophical systems affect their bevaiour and mind; the self identity and what reaction they have when they face the problem. In this case, the stakeholders are the ones who is experiencing the same conflict of identities.
Brief History of these two countries
China, which is considered as “one of the world’s oldest civilizations”(“Han”), has a history from about 5000 B.C. Like all the other "old" countries, the long history of China has built a lot of firm and solid traditional idea in her citizens' mind. In short, Chinese society is affected deeply by several famous Chinese philosophers and they influence indiviudal’s beaviour and thinking. On the other hand, Canada, which has evolved from a group of European colonies such as United Kingdom and France, is located near United States. Since the historical background and the geography location, it makes Canada as one of the representation of western countries. Its citizens mind is mainly affected by United States and Europe.
The Power of different Philosophical system
In China, Confucius is one of the most important philosophers in the society. Confucianism, which is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (“Confucianism”). This system has “a great influence in Chinese government, education, and attitudes toward correct personal behavior and the individual duties to society”(“All”). A lot of Chinese thoughts are generated and being used based on the thought of Confucius. They take family, community and society in a much higher priority than their own personality. Family has always played an important role in the Chinese society. The traditional Chinese cultural systems in which “all idea and behaviour were judged by whether or not individuals contributed to the well-being of the family”(Tian 40). It shows the power of familism in China while the traditional Chinese individual’s personality are “derived from, influenced and subsumed by their own families”(Tian 40). Although it may sounds ridiculous to Canadian that Chinese puts his/her personality in such a low position, this familism brings good influence to Chinese. Since family serves as a significant resource for individuals in terms of coping and adoption, family members “depend on each other for emotional, tangible and informational support”(Tian 58). The difference of Chinese and Canadian in spending money is one of the examples of it. When Chinese has the ability to earn money, they usually rewards and contributes their family and it demonstrates their loyalty to it. On the other hand, once Canadian starts to earn money, they will stop spending money from the family but they usually do not reward their family by giving money back to their parents. This difference can imply the different behaviour of eastern and western society.(Tian 60)
Self Identity
Social psychologist Barry Schlenker believes that self-identification is “constituted contextually through various transactions between individuals, audience, and situations”(Schlenker). Searching for an identity involves “situating oneself within, or in opposition to, larger social structures or relationships”(Tian 170). The problem that Chinese-Canadian face is the contrast of their self-identities between “Chinese selves” (Tian, 160) and “Westernized selves” (Tian, 160). The philosophical system of the old Chinese selves has a lot of difference with the value of Canadian Culture. Since Confucianist–thinking affects Chinese deep inside this/her mind, Chinese self is seen to be basically accommodating rather than assertive. Most people in China admitted that they seldom thought about the question of what the “self” was.(Tian, 160) The traditional Chinese are more obeyed and usually listen to what their leaders and president said. However, Canada teaches its citizens to accept democracy, enjoy personal freedoms and to be “egocentric or individualistic” (Tian, 160) Chinese are led to consider not only how the notion of “self might differ in China from that in the West, but how notions of self within each are apt to change in response to wider social-cultural changes”(Tian 40) Chinese gives himself/herself a lot of responsibilities because they care about the community more than individualism. This thought can lead to the ignorance of one's own will.
This pictures demonstrates self-identity of Western people [Left] and Chinese [Right]
Understanding the New Self
Self often differs across different boundaries because “cultural experience conditions the self as much as it conditions our values, ways of thinking, and social relations”( Tian 40). Therefore, when Chinese went to Canada, they may undergo self-modification changes because of the impact difference between Chinese and Canada but it takes time to change. An individual’s self can be shaped by a complex social-cultural systems. Although China is a relatively traditional with firmed minded, their personality can still being change under the environment with different experience. With the new Westernized-self, it encourages individualism and private experience become valued. The traditional Chinese self is always positioned in relation to other family members which shows that they have difficulty identifying their selves. However, most Chinese begins to realize their selves when they live in Canada after a period of time (Tian, 168). In the ideal case, Individual self role can be “re-defined” to fit the new circumstances "with the endeavour of modifying the old social cultural values”(Tian 78) under this new environment.
Chinese-Canadian? Canadian-Chinese?
It seems that getting two identities do improve the characteristic of an individual. However, there is no guarantee to ideal cases in all scenario. How do Chinese manipulate their multiple identities and play various roles in their interactions with others? There is an observation that I have made during these few years. There are two seems extremes but common reactions when Chinese first come to Canada. Having the desire to gain the social approval of significant in the Canadian society, some of Chinese notice their difference with other Canadians. In order to shorten the distance between native Canadian and himself/herself, they will force themselves to only listen to the music that western people listen; only follow the fashion style of western countries and some of them only make friends with whites and even discriminates back to Chinese. No one wants to be isolated from others, so it is understandable that they try to be similar to their fellows. "West-washed” is a term used to coin how people being affected by the western environment and society and become more like a white. On the other hand, the other group of Chinese will never do that.
They do not like to change. They do not like to stay in a place that is not really their home and they seek ways to keep their old living style. Western styles are not appreciated by them and they may refuse to learn and accept. Sticking back into the Chinese Community is one way that they use to escape the reality that they are in Canada, not China. Since Self-identity can be defined as a process that “refers to how individuals identify themselves or search for their identities in and through their interactions with others” (Tian 170), these two group of people do show the truth of these sentence. The "west-washed" Chinese notice the difference and they try to change themselves to suit the whole group in order to find an identity among the white. The other Chinese find their own identity within the pure Chinese community. These two cases are both showing that a lot of people who is multi-identities cannot take a balance between them. How can an individual take a balance when he/she has more than one identities? There are still a lot for the world to work on it.
Works Cited
Tian, Guang. Chinese-Canadians, Canadian-Chinese: Coping and Adapting in North America. New York: The Edwin Mellen P, 1999.
Con, Harry, Ronald J. Con, Graham Johnson, Edgar Wickberg, and William E. Willmott. A History of Canada's People: From China to Canada. Canada: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
Li, Peter S. The Chinese in Canada. Oxford UP Canada, 1988.
Han, Susan. "Precious Children: China's History and Culture." PBS. 05 Feb. 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/china/cultural.html>.
Schlenker, Barry R. Self-identification:Toward an integration of the private and public self. N.Y.: Public Self and Private Self, 1986.
Confused Identity: Chinese-Canadian
by Man Fong, WuIntroduction
Nowadays, the world becomes more globalization. This scenario can be found not only in the areas of economy and technology; but also in the fields of socioculture and political forces. When people around the world become more unified into a single society gradually, is that mean individual will also simplify its personality and lose their own identity gradually? Will the goodness of a country/society being dumped and replaced by another one? Will people lose their unique identity in this global village? It is hard to tell since we are only in the middle of stage. However, we can investigate in a similar scenario to see whether people are losing their own identity. If a Chinese, who has a traditional firm and solid thought, is being placed in a Western country such as Canada, how can they define their own identity? Will he/she consider himself/herself as Chinese-Canadian? Or he/she will still insist that he/she is Chinese no matter where he/she is? In order to know more about the internal conflict of a Chinese-Canadian, this individual research will give a brief backgrounds of these two countries; how these two different philosophical systems affect their bevaiour and mind; the self identity and what reaction they have when they face the problem. In this case, the stakeholders are the ones who is experiencing the same conflict of identities.
Brief History of these two countries
China, which is considered as “one of the world’s oldest civilizations”(“Han”), has a history from about 5000 B.C. Like all the other "old" countries, the long history of China has built a lot of firm and solid traditional idea in her citizens' mind. In short, Chinese society is affected deeply by several famous Chinese philosophers and they influence indiviudal’s beaviour and thinking. On the other hand, Canada, which has evolved from a group of European colonies such as United Kingdom and France, is located near United States. Since the historical background and the geography location, it makes Canada as one of the representation of western countries. Its citizens mind is mainly affected by United States and Europe.
The Power of different Philosophical system
In China, Confucius is one of the most important philosophers in the society. Confucianism, which is a Chinese ethical and philosophical system developed from the teachings of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (“Confucianism”). This system has “a great influence in Chinese government, education, and attitudes toward correct personal behavior and the individual duties to society”(“All”). A lot of Chinese thoughts are generated and being used based on the thought of Confucius. They take family, community and society in a much higher priority than their own personality. Family has always played an important role in the Chinese society. The traditional Chinese cultural systems in which “all idea and behaviour were judged by whether or not individuals contributed to the well-being of the family”(Tian 40). It shows the power of familism in China while the traditional Chinese individual’s personality are “derived from, influenced and subsumed by their own families”(Tian 40). Although it may sounds ridiculous to Canadian that Chinese puts his/her personality in such a low position, this familism brings good influence to Chinese. Since family serves as a significant resource for individuals in terms of coping and adoption, family members “depend on each other for emotional, tangible and informational support”(Tian 58). The difference of Chinese and Canadian in spending money is one of the examples of it. When Chinese has the ability to earn money, they usually rewards and contributes their family and it demonstrates their loyalty to it. On the other hand, once Canadian starts to earn money, they will stop spending money from the family but they usually do not reward their family by giving money back to their parents. This difference can imply the different behaviour of eastern and western society.(Tian 60)
Self Identity
Social psychologist Barry Schlenker believes that self-identification is “constituted contextually through various transactions between individuals, audience, and situations”(Schlenker). Searching for an identity involves “situating oneself within, or in opposition to, larger social structures or relationships”(Tian 170). The problem that Chinese-Canadian face is the contrast of their self-identities between “Chinese selves” (Tian, 160) and “Westernized selves” (Tian, 160). The philosophical system of the old Chinese selves has a lot of difference with the value of Canadian Culture. Since Confucianist–thinking affects Chinese deep inside this/her mind, Chinese self is seen to be basically accommodating rather than assertive. Most people in China admitted that they seldom thought about the question of what the “self” was.(Tian, 160) The traditional Chinese are more obeyed and usually listen to what their leaders and president said. However, Canada teaches its citizens to accept democracy, enjoy personal freedoms and to be “egocentric or individualistic” (Tian, 160) Chinese are led to consider not only how the notion of “self might differ in China from that in the West, but how notions of self within each are apt to change in response to wider social-cultural changes”(Tian 40) Chinese gives himself/herself a lot of responsibilities because they care about the community more th an individualism. This thought can lead to the ignorance of one's own will.
This pictures demonstrates self-identity of Western people [Left] and Chinese [Right]
Understanding the New Self
Self often differs across different boundaries because “cultural experience conditions the self as much as it conditions our values, ways of thinking, and social relations”( Tian 40). Therefore, when Chinese went to Canada, they may undergo self-modification changes because of the impact difference between Chinese and Canada but it takes time to change. An individual’s self can be shaped by a complex social-cultural systems. Although China is a relatively traditional with firmed minded, their personality can still being change under the environment with different experience. With the new Westernized-self, it encourages individualism and private experience become valued. The traditional Chinese self is always positioned in relation to other family members which shows that they have difficulty identifying their selves. However, most Chinese begins to realize their selves when they live in Canada after a period of time (Tian, 168). In the ideal case, Individual self role can be “re-defined” to fit the new circumstances "with the endeavour of modifying the old social cultural values”(Tian 78) under this new environment.
Chinese-Canadian? Canadian-Chinese?
It seems that getting two identities do improve the characteristic of an individual. However, there is no guarantee to ideal cases in all scenario. How do Chinese manipulate their multiple identities and play various roles in their interactions with others? There is an observation that I have made during these few years. There are two seems extremes but common reactions when Chinese first come to Canada. Having the desire to gain the social approval of significant in the Canadian society, some of Chinese notice their difference with other Canadians.
They do not like to change. They do not like to stay in a place that is not really their home and they seek ways to keep their old living style. Western styles are not appreciated by them and they may refuse to learn and accept. Sticking back into the Chinese Community is one way that they use to escape the reality that they are in Canada, not China. Since Self-identity can be defined as a process that “refers to how individuals identify themselves or search for their identities in and through their interactions with others” (Tian 170), these two group of people do show the truth of these sentence. The "west-washed" Chinese notice the difference and they try to change themselves to suit the whole group in order to find an identity among the white. The other Chinese find their own identity within the pure Chinese community. These two cases are both showing that a lot of people who is multi-identities cannot take a balance between them. How can an individual take a balance when he/she has more than one identities? There are still a lot for the world to work on it.
Works Cited
Tian, Guang. Chinese-Canadians, Canadian-Chinese: Coping and Adapting in North America. New York: The Edwin Mellen P, 1999.
"All about Confucianism, Confucius, symbols, the Jen." World Religions and 101 Cults and Sects. 05 Feb. 2009
<http://www.religion-cults.com/Eastern/Confucianism/confuci.htm>.
"Confucianism." ReligiousTolerance.org by the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. 05 Feb. 2009 <http://www.religioustolerance.org/confuciu.htm>.
Con, Harry, Ronald J. Con, Graham Johnson, Edgar Wickberg, and William E. Willmott. A History of Canada's People: From China to Canada. Canada: McClelland and Stewart, 1988.
Li, Peter S. The Chinese in Canada. Oxford UP Canada, 1988.
Han, Susan. "Precious Children: China's History and Culture." PBS. 05 Feb. 2009 <http://www.pbs.org/kcts/preciouschildren/china/cultural.html>.
Schlenker, Barry R. Self-identification:Toward an integration of the private and public self. N.Y.: Public Self and Private Self, 1986.
My quasi-identity crisis. 28 Jan. 2009. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://girlofwords.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/confused_by_mushy_pea.jpg>.
Self cartoon. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/shr1317l.jpg>.
Differences between Eastern and Western culture__. 28 Jan. 2008. Matt Armstrong. 6 Feb. 2009 <http://mountainrunner.us/WindowsLiveWriter/DifferencesbetweenEasternandWesterncultu_B0A6/clip_image007_2.jpg>.